Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (Official Thread)

FeverPitch2

Superstar
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Messages
6,796
Reputation
1,853
Daps
29,306
Someone mentioned on IG that all of them were named after a Temptations member :wow:
Glad somebody caught that.
Norman = Norman Whitfield. The Tempts conceptualist/songwriter/producer during their late 60's socio-political era.

Norman Whitfield - Wikipedia

From 1966 to 1974, Whitfield produced virtually all of the Temptations' music, experimenting with sound effects and other production techniques.[1] He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricist Barrett Strong, the performer on Motown's first hit record, "Money (That's What I Want)", and wrote material for the Temptations and other Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips, both of whom recorded Whitfield-produced hit versions of the Whitfield/Strong composition "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The Gladys Knight & the Pips' version was the best-selling Motown single so far, but it was surpassed a year later by Gaye's version.

After Temptations lead singer David Ruffin was replaced by Dennis Edwards in 1968, Whitfield moved the group into a harder, darker sound that featured a blend of psychedelic rock and funk heavily inspired by the work of Sly & the Family Stone and Funkadelic.[5] He added contemporary song topics, moving from love songs to the social issues of the time, such as war, poverty and politics. The first Temptations single to feature this new psychedelic soul style was "Cloud Nine" in late 1968, which earned Motown its first Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental). A second Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Whitfield and the Temptations came in 1973 with "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone". The single's instrumental B-side earned Whitfield and arranger Paul Riser a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance, and Whitfield and Strong shared the songwriters' award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song.
 
Last edited:

PortCityProphet

Follow me to the truth
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
80,690
Reputation
17,418
Daps
274,745
Reppin
Bama ass DC
I thought it was a very good flick.
It dragged a little bit at some points but it was still a moving movie.
It hit on all the emotions. Moments of intensity and suspense, sadness, laughs.
All the actors did their thing especially Delroy.
Him being MAGA had me :dead:


fukking tragic ending. I wish it was a happy ending. I liked them being the same age in the flashbacks. I like how it was different and more like a look back than a flashback if that makes sense.
I didnt expect Stormin to bmget got the way he did but that was a surprise that I appreciated. It made a lot of things make sense.

And oh yeah Otis ole lady was bad af :whew:
I woulda knocked that vietcong coochie up too :banderas:


We need a Stormin Norman prequel on some rambo shyt :banderas:
Lemme hit up spike
 

you're NOT "n!ggas"

FKA ciroq drobama
Supporter
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
14,640
Reputation
6,361
Daps
63,346
Reppin
Astronomy (8th light)
I enjoyed this. Feels like I need to watch it again to catch the overall message though, there's a lot of themes to digest. One thing in particular I really liked is that they continually called it "The American War"-- even the bloods. It recentered the narrative to show it was something neither side (black americans or the vietnamese) really wanted but went thru together-- cuz America.


Kinda wish they'd cast some younger brehs for the flashbacks, but I get it. The budget only goes so far. I didn't care for the French ally/girlfriend bullshyt AT ALL tho :pacspit:
 

KalKal

Superstar
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,954
Reputation
1,085
Daps
16,050
Reppin
No Whammies!!
Brehs I’m not deep or into politics at all...

but does the 2 opposite kinda characters wearing MAGA hats symbolize anything..like if Paul woulda stood back with the group..the other maga cat woulda popped his head off anyway for that money...so he reppin that maga shyt for no reason really..he’ll never be equal...or something like that :russ:

The Roach was wearing Paul's hat. The Vietnamese guy thay Otis shot took it from Paul.

My interpretation was that
Jean Reno's French villain was actually wearing Paul's hat ironically to show how much he HATED all Americans and blamed them all for Trump. When he first met with the group, Paul tried to give him the old "We saved your French ass from eating Bratwurst in WW2!" speech. That gave the impression that he was dealing with a whole group of ignorant Trump-loving Americans that we was about to rip off.

He shows up with Paul's hat on basically to send the message that he had Paul killed and took his hat. Then, he takes the hat off, call it "shyt", and throws it down.

I actually think (even though he's a bad guy) in his mind he sees himself as morally better than the Americans. They came to Vietnam to basically steal the gold that was ALWAYS meant to be given to the Vietnamese people. Even though he's trying to make himself rich by ripping the 5 Bloods off (and murdering them), he's also sharing at least some of his money with Vietnamese officers who feel it rightfully belongs to them (and they're not really wrong).
 

Dr. Narcisse

Veteran
Joined
May 1, 2014
Messages
50,827
Reputation
11,532
Daps
168,119
I almost stopped the movie after that. :sadcam:

Honestly thought this was going to be a feel good movie until then but they ended up battlin demons(mental and physical) and taking major L's instead. :wow:
That was basically the midway point where it switched to another movie. At first I was like damn they found Norm kinda early :patrice:. Cause I was thinking this was going to be mostly a character study and maybe a bit of action at the very end. Just mostly a lot of reflecting and trying to be better men after this. Like I said before it still was enjoyable despite switching to another movie. Even though it probably would have been "better" if they stayed the course. Movie not getting made without the 2nd half tho. Still wish they got a chance to grieve Eddie a bit. shyt would fukk me up seeing a homeboy die horribly after we just traveled to find another dead friend. :mjcry:
 
Top